First UK study to compare effect of access to internet-based STI testing against face-to-face appointments TECHNOLOGY-HEALTH | AGENCIES | Providing Internet-based testing for Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) could increase the number of people being tested for syphilis, HIV, chlamydia and gonorrhoea, including among high-risk groups, according to a new …
Read More »Schools closed in Zambia as cholera toll rises to 61
Lusaka, Zambia | AFP | The start of Zambia’s school year has been postponed and all public gatherings banned to contain a cholera outbreak that has killed 61 people, officials said Tuesday. Church services were cancelled on Sunday and a night-time curfew has been imposed to limit movement in Lusaka’s densely-populated …
Read More »Mouse study shows how alcohol may cause cancer
Paris, France | AFP | Alcohol damages the DNA of stem cells responsible for producing new blood, according to a mouse study which may explain the link between drinking and cancer, scientists said on Wednesday. Health watchdogs have long warned that alcohol consumption contributes to seven types of cancer …
Read More »Treatment against blindness to sell for $850,000 in US
New York, United States | AFP | Luxturna, a medication against hereditary degeneration of the retina that can lead to total blindness, will be sold for $850,000 in the United States, making it one of the world’s most expensive medical treatments. It is administered in a single dose, according …
Read More »2017 in health
Drug shortages, doctors strike Kampala, Uganda | FLAVIA NASSAKA | If one item has characterised the health sector in Uganda in most of 2017, it is the lack of medicines and supplies in hospitals. It even became a rallying cry for striking doctors of the Uganda Medical Association (UMA). At the …
Read More »Zambia deploys army to battle cholera after 41 deaths
Lusaka, Zambia | AFP | Zambia’s president Edgar Lungu has deployed the army to help combat a cholera outbreak that has claimed 41 lives in the capital Lusaka and affected 1,550 more since September. The initial outbreak began on September 28 according to the World Health Organization and Zambia’s health …
Read More »‘Special Christmas’ as English player makes second comeback from cancer
London, United Kingdom | AFP | English third-tier footballer Joe Thompson will enjoy a “special” Christmas after his second return from battling cancer on Saturday, exactly a year since being diagnosed. The 28-year-old Rochdale midfielder has twice beaten Hodgkin lymphoma and came off the bench for the last 18 minutes of …
Read More »Two tomatoes a day may keep lung disease at bay: study
Paris, France | AFP | Adults who ate more than two tomatoes a day had a slower rate of natural lung function decline, with ex-smokers seeming to benefit most of all, scientists said Thursday. Similar benefits, they said, were observed for people who ate more than three portions of fresh fruit …
Read More »US provides ARVS worth $18.7 million to Uganda
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The United States has demonstrated its ongoing commitment to improving the health of Ugandans by providing $18.7 million worth of life-saving antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) to fill gaps in the country’s public sector facilities and provide broader support to her supply chain systems. At a ceremony …
Read More »THIS WEEK: Cabinet resolves to raise judiciary, health, education salaries
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | An extra ordinary cabinet meeting chaired by President Museveni on Dec.09 agreed that public servants working in security, judiciary, health and education sectors should have their salaries enhanced. Speaking to media on Dec.11, Public Service Minister Muruli Mukasa said that the exercise will be conducted …
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